Copenhagen, home to Michelin-starred Noma, one of the most famous restaurants in the world, is renowned for its fine dining scene. Located in Denmark's oldest garden, the Royal Danish Horticultural Garden, Mielcke & Hurtigkarl restaurant offers a very special dining experience with innovative cooking in one of the loveliest dining rooms I've ever visited. The dining room was designed by Danish textile artist Margrethe Odgaard who explains that “Frederiksberg Gardens are very beautiful in a groomed and cultivated way and I have mirrored the garden image but warped the prettiness of it, by depicting weird insects, beetles and weeds. My intention is that initially you should feel like you are sitting in a well-groomed garden and that you would only discover the insects bit by bit.” Owner (with Roy Hurtigkarl) and Executive Chef Jakob Mielcke worked at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and later at Sketch in London and has been a judge on Masterchef (Denmark) since 2013.

Languostine with shiso and kaffir lime at Mielcke & HurtigkarlAndfotography.com

The seasonal menu offers tasting menus of five, seven or more courses. We had at least ten dishes, all beautifully presented and each deliciously inventive. Highlights included languostine with shisho and lime, the tenderest of scallops, served with green strawberries and pomelo, lemon sole with chicken skin and kombu (a sea vegetable) and a gorgeous apple, caramel and walnut dessert.

For a more low key dining experience, Paté Paté in the meatpacking district offers a hearty, bistro style menu of food inspired by Spain, France, the Middle East and Morocco, served up in a rustic dining room. with great jazz in the background. We loved the signature dish, French country roasted chicken with saffron tomatoes and a yogurt sauce with fries.

Jazzcup, a cafe, record shop and live music venueAndfotography.com

2. Jazz clubs

Denmark has long had a strong association with jazz and many of the greats have not only performed there but lived there as well, especially during the '50s and '60s where the racial atmosphere was more relaxed than in the United States. We had great experiences at two of the city's top clubs, Jazzcup and Jazzhus Montmarte.

Harry Allen trio performing at Jazzcup, CopenhagenAndfotography.com

Jazzcup is a record shop with its own record label (Stunt Records),café and live music venue with gigs every Friday afternoon from 3:30 - 7pm and every Saturday afternoon at 2:30-6pm. We heard the brilliant American tenor saxophonist Harry Allen perform standards and original pieces with his quartet and then purchased some gems from the record shop in the back. For an old school, authentic jazz experience, this was ideal.

Jazzhus Montmartre has been open since 1959 with all the greats having performed there as we witnessed from looking at the photos on the walls backstage. Afro Cuban Supreme performed two energetic sets mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms and Coltrane inspired jazz. Original pieces along with classics like Dizzie Gillespie's classic 'A Night in Tunisia' made for an exciting gig. The quintet features saxophonist Fredrik Kronkvist, pianist Martin Sjöstedt, Eliel Lazo on congas, bassist Johnny Åman, Jason Marsalis (youngest brother of Wynton) on drums and Miriam Aida on vocals.

Nova Fairy Tales Bike rentalAndfotography.com

3. Bicycle City Tours.

There are many options as bicycles and thus bike tours are ubiquitous in Copenhagen but we wanted a small group tour so we chose Nova Fairy Tales. We opted for a three hour bike tour of the city's main attractions which took in some of the famous landmarks such as the Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Palace (the royal residence of the current Danish royal family) and the 17th-century Round Tower (the oldest functioning observatory in Europe). The tour also took us to Christiana Freetown, a self-proclaimed autonomous anarchist district set up by hippies in abandoned army barracks in the 1970s. Crafts, art and organic food were for sale and if we'd been in the market for marijuanna, it was openly sold in many varieties in the market stalls but I think that would have made for a slightly wobbly bike journey back.

Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, the FolketingAndfotography.com

We enjoyed riding across the bridges and through various parks but the highlight for me as a major fan of the Danish drama Borgen, was seeing Christiansborg Palace, the Folketing (Danish Parliament).

Canal cruises all set off from Nyhavn Andfotography.com

4. Canal tours

Copenhagen Cards available as a 24, 36, 72 and 120 hour card offer free canal tours which start from Nyhavn (New Harbour), a 17th-century waterfront district, lined with brightly colored townhouses, bars, cafes and restaurants. A Copenhagen card provides free admission to 79 attractions and free transport in the Copenhagen region. A canal tour is an excellent way to see the city with open top boats passing the Opera House, the famous palaces, Black Diamond Library and the Little Mermaid.

Jeff Wall and Giacometti at Louisiana modern art museum Andfotography.com

5. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

One of the world's most beautiful art galleries is in an idyllic location on the Danish coast about 35 minutes by train north of Copenhagen. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art has a permanent collection of over 3,500 works and presents six to ten special exhibitions annually. Outdoors, you can see Sweden across the sound and 60 sculptures dot the grounds, including works by Henry Moore, Alexander Serra and Alexander Calder. The museum takes its name from the original 19th century house owned by a man with three wives, each named Louise. The Copenhagen card covers the trains and entrance to the museum.

Den Bla Hal flea market, CopenhagenAndfotography.com

6. Den Bla Hal Flea market

This indoor flea market on the edge of town is well worth a visit. As with any flea market, Den Bla Hal offers the usual mixed bag with a range of bric-a-brac, china, lighting, clothing and lots of furniture. The day we visited, we found several gems among the many boxes of vinyl records on display.

The lobby bar at the Andersen hotelAndfotography.com

We stayed in two areas, at the newly opened Hotel Sanders, owned by former Principal dancer in the Royal Copenhagen Ballet in the historic centre and at the Andersen Hotel, on the edge of the hip meatpacking district. Andersen is stylishly decorated with fabrics and wallpapers from the Designers Guild with the 69 rooms in three color schemes, allowing guests to choose the color scheme when they book. We took full advantage of the hotel's "Wine Hour" offering complimentary wine in the lobby lounge in the early evening. I often ask for late checkout which of course isn't always possible so I was pleased to discover that if you book your room online, the Andersen offers CONCEPT24 where your room will be yours 24 hours from check-in to check-out. We arrived at 5pm which meant we didn't have to check out until 5pm the following day.

I've been writing on travel, food, fashion and culture for the past decade or so. In addition to Forbes, I've contributed to Garageland, High50, Huffington Post, Yahoo, World Travel Guides, Zoomer and Demagazine, where I'm the arts and travel feature editor. I also work as ...